Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?

I'm glad you asked, Paula Cole. Apparently you never thought to look in Arkansas.

There have been a lot of depressing headlines lately. Celebrity divorces. Kim Jong-il making the world feel the wrath of his short man syndrome. Interplanetary collisions in three billion years. You know, the usual stuff. So I was both surprised and kind of enchanted when I saw this headline today:

"Cowboy Lassoes Arkansas Boy From Well

DODDRIDGE, Ark. (June 18) — It was a cowboy to the rescue when a 7-year-old boy fell into an abandoned water well in southwest Arkansas.

Reed Nations lassoed Jonathan Easter out of the well with a lariat Tuesday morning before rescuers summoned by his grandmother could arrive. Jonathan was helping his aunt clear brush around an old house near Doddridge, about four miles from the Louisiana border. He fell 20 to 30 feet down the well, which has sand walls. Nations came from a nearby ranch and used a rope lariat to pull Jonathan to safety.

Jonathan escaped with only a cut on his arm, Miller County sheriff's deputy Alan Keller said. 'Nations is a modest cowboy,' Arkansas State Police Sgt. John Bishop said. '[He] doesn't want any notoriety.' Firefighters have covered the well."

That is just sooooo.... hot. I think I'd take my chances with a well if I was guaranteed a cowboy rescue at the end. In my dream version of said rescue, the theme from "The A-Team" is playing in the background when he comes riding in and saves the day. Swoooooon.

And you thought nothing good ever came from the bible belt.